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SAMSUNG Develops World First 512Mb DRAM

Samsung Electronics has developed a semiconductor chip by employing a design rule that can etch circuits one-eight-hundredth the size of a human hair 0.12 micron. On April 20, the company announced that it had applied 0.12-micron processing technology, the smallest for any commercial chip now available, to complete development of a 512Mb DRAM (dynamic random access memory) semiconductor device. Because the new device can be assembled in the same plastic package as the 256Mb DRAM, memory upgrades will be easily achieved. 36 new 512Mb DRAMs can be configured into a 2GB module the world's largest capacity to date that can then easily be installed in existing systems. The availability of greater storage capacity in package sizes similar to existing chips will eliminate the necessity of changing motherboard specifications, therefore encouraging the computer market to move quickly to greater memory capacity. The 512Mb DRAM uses a chip design that can support either the synchronous mode of the current PC-100 and PC-133, or the next-generation DDR (double data rate) memory specifications. This design will enable better production line flexibility, quickening Samsung's response time to market demands. "The size and flexibility of the 512Mb DRAM is a timely response to market and technology changes, ushering in a new generation of high-capacity memory chips," stated Chang-Gyu Hwang, vice president and CEO of Samsung's Memory Division. In addition, the technology, know-how and 0.12-micron design rule can also be applied to existing 128Mb and 256Mb DRAMs to achieve a strong price advantage, thereby ensuring Samsung's leadership in the world memory market. The high-end memory market is forecast to consist of DDR devices for server PCs and Rambus DRAM devices for workstations. The general PC market will center on three main products: SDR DRAMs, DDR SDRAMs and Rambus DRAMs. Samsung Electronics is capable of mass-producing all three of these types, so the company's market dominance is expected to accelerate. Samsung Electronics officials expect to supply their 512Mb DRAM to large manufacturers of servers. The initial market for this new device is seen to form in 2001. Demand is forecast at around US$20 million in 2001 and is expected to skyrocket to US$41.1 billion by 2004.